Now, the ball's in Jack's court

Berks Catholic's Marquis Marshall, left, and Donovon Jack finished as the second-highest scoring duo in county history, with 2,865 points. Marshall is set to announce plans to attend Towson University.

Now it's up to Donovon Jack, Berks Catholic's All-State center, to make his decision about that coach and whether or not to keep his commitment to Duquesne, which he made last September.

He'll meet the Dukes' new coach, Jim Ferry, today, according to Curt Jack, Donovon's father. Ferry reached out to Jack immediately after his hiring this week.

Jack was sold on the Duquesne program and its head coach, Ron Everhart, but Everhart was fired March 23 following a 16-15 season and news that several top players were leaving the program.

"The No. 1 reason Donovon chose Duquesne was because of his personal relationship with the head coach," said Gene Rice, Jack's AAU coach with the PA Playaz.

With that relationship ended Jack has been weighing his options, and he reportedly has many.

Rice said that within hours of Everhart's dismissal he received calls from as many as 18 college coaches seeking to offer the three-time All-State pick a scholarship.

Snip Esterly, the Berks Catholic coach, said he has been inundated with similar calls over the past three weeks.

College coaches are not permitted, under NCAA rules, to contact Jack or his family members directly, so they go through intermediary channels.

Schools such as Penn State, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Virginia Commonwealth, Belmont, Drexel, La Salle, Saint Joseph's and St. Bonaventure have aggressively pursued Jack with the possibility that he could become a free agent.

Jack is coveted not only because of his size, 6-9, but because of his ability to move, pass, shoot and run the floor so well for a big man.

He's also considered very "coachable" and has a strong academic background. (He plans to major in physics, a rarity among Division I basketball players.)

Technically he remains committed to Duquesne because he has signed an NCAA letter of intent. However, the Reading Eagle has learned that Duquesne athletic director Greg Amodio has promised Jack that the school will release him from that commitment if he agrees to meet with the new coach.

Ferry, 44, comes to Duquesne from Long Island University, which he took to two straight NCAA Tournaments as Northeast Conference champion. The team finished 25-9 this season and ranked second nationally in scoring, at 81.4 points per game.

Rice said that because of the coaching situation at Duquesne, Jack has taken the opportunity to step back and reevaluate his options. Rice believes Jack is open to selecting another school if he's not comfortable with the fit at Duquesne.

If Duquesne does not grant Jack a release he would be forced to sit at least one season at another school. If he were to choose an Atlantic 10 school he would be forced to sit two years, because Duquesne is a member of the A-10 and league members follow that rule.

Meanwhile, Jack's Saints teammate, Marquis Marshall, is set to announce his plans to attend Towson University.

Marshall informed Tigers head coach Pat Skerry late last month that he was committing to the school.

Marshall was a Class AAA third-team All-State pick as a senior after helping the Saints win the Berks Conference and District 3-AAA championships and compile a 28-3 record.

He and Jack scored more than 1,000 points in their careers, and they finished as the second-highest scoring duo in Berks history, with 2,865 points.